This invention relates to a measurement device for golf clubs. More particularly, the invention is directed to a device for measuring the bounce, loft and lie of a golf club.
A golf club includes a shaft and a club head and falls into one of three categories: woods (a modern day misnomer as these are typically metal/alloy), irons and putters. Irons and woods are grouped by loft angle. Woods commonly are formed with 8.degree-27.degree loft angles. Irons with low loft angles, e.g., 20.degree.-30.degree., are classified as long irons while irons with large loft angles, e.g., 40.degree.-50.degree., are classified as short irons. Irons are typically identified from long to short, i.e., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, PW (pitching wedge), SW (sand wedge), and LW (lob wedge).
A side from length and weight of the club, variance in bounce, loft and lie of a golf club affect the playability of the club. Traditionally, bounce angle was the distance between the ground and the line which connects the leading edge of the sole with the trailing, or effective trailing, edge of the sole. The loft, lie and bounce angle impacts playability, launch angle and spin rate. These three factors seem to play particular importance in xe2x80x9cpersonalizingxe2x80x9d a golf club.
It has been conventionally thought, lie angle is the angle between the center line of the hosel bore and the round line when the head of the club is disposed on the club. The lie angle is important because if, for example, the club""s sole is angled upward when the club head impacts the ball, the face of the club head will be aimed to the left of the medial line of the fairway. The ball will travel in this left-of-center direction because that is the direction in which it is aimed. On the other hand, if the club""s sole is angled in a downward direction, the opposite effect will be obtained wherein the golf club head faces to the right and the travel of the ball will go to the right of the medial line of the fairway.
The other angle of face of the golf club head relative to the shaft is the loft angle. The loft angle is the backward slant of the face of a golf club head. The greater the angle, the greater the loft of the ball after being struck by the club. While the loft of clubs often determines their angle in a conventional way, for example, a xe2x80x9c5 ironxe2x80x9d has a greater loft than a xe2x80x9c4 iron,xe2x80x9d these degrees are not absolute for each set of clubs. One golfer may use a xe2x80x9csix ironxe2x80x9d to achieve a certain degree of loft of the ball, whereas another golfer, using the same club, may achieve a different degree of loft. This is because the grip and stance of golfers differs such that upon impact of the club face on the ball, the loft angle may be different from one golfer to the other. This angle is personalized to meet the particular habits of the individual golfer.
Accordingly bending devices have been made to change these angles in order to fit a club to the golfer. Prior to bending a club, an accurate measuring device is imperative in order to determine how much alteration is required.
The present invention overcomes the problem of the lack of a reliable system that provides not only a method of measuring the optimum loft and lie of a golf club for a particular golfer, but also the bounce angle in order to take into account the alteration of the particular club""s lie and loft angle to meet the personalized needs of the golfer. Prior approaches to adjusting the loft and lie angles to fit the individual needs of the golfer failed to provide a suitable device for measuring bounce angle in order to adequately perform a multi-task of measuring loft and lie of a golf club.
The present invention overcomes the problems of the current state of the art for measuring golf clubs. The variables of bounce, loft and lie of a golf club are of primary focus in the present invention. It is an object to improve the way to measure bounce, loft and lie of a golf club. It is another object to provide a device for measuring bounce, loft and lie of a golf club.
The present invention provides for measuring bounce angle in a novel manner wherein the bounce angle is formed by the horizontal sole plane that is right angle to a club""s vertical shaft plane that intersects the leading bounce edge (beginning of sole""s camber radius) of the club and the trailing bounce edge (lowest point on sole""s camber radius). The invention provides for lie angle to be calculated between the vertical shaft plane and a horizontal plane parallel to a score line of the club face. Further, the invention provides for loft to be calculated using the present invention.
Accordingly, the invention is directed to a device for measuring bounce angle, bounce width, loft and lie of a golf club. The device includes a shaft clamp for holding a golf club in an adjustably fixable position, a bounce measurer operably associated with the shaft clamp, a loft measurer operably associated with the shaft clamp and a lie measurer operably associated with the shaft clamp. The bounce measurer can be movably connected to the loft measurer. The loft measurer and lie measurer are movably interconnected to the shaft clamp. The device includes an alignment piece removably configured to be disposed adjacent a face of the golf club and to extend perpendicular therefrom. In a preferred embodiment, the device is further characterized to include the ability to measure right and left-handed clubs.
In a broader context, the invention is directed to a device and method for measuring bounce. The invention also provides for a device and method for measuring loft and lie.